


It is well, it is well, with my soul.

by SteelBlaidd



Series: Scenes from a Miraculous Life [7]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Christmas Party, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Issues, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:55:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28364268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SteelBlaidd/pseuds/SteelBlaidd
Summary: Christmas is a time for Family.The family you were issued and the family you chose to make.Gabriel Agreste couldn't deal with the loss of his wife and shrunk his family so mush it almost disappeared.Adrien has chosen to grow his family as large as he can, despite the risk.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Kagami Tsurugi, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Ivan Bruel/Mylène Haprèle
Series: Scenes from a Miraculous Life [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1728766
Comments: 15
Kudos: 36
Collections: December 2020 - Advent Calendar





	It is well, it is well, with my soul.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 27:Family of the [ Miraculous Fanworks Discord](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks) 2020 Advent Calendar
> 
> The title comes from a hymn written by Hugo Spafford in memory of his four daughters lost in a North Atlantic ship collision in 1873. History of the Song

Adrien waited restlessly as the bored guard signed in the other visitors in front of him. 

It was both too short and not long enough as he fiddled with his collar, rings and alternatively clasped his hands together behind his back and stuffed them in his pockets as he rocked back and forth in the line as it shuffled forward past the barred window and through the little double doored room that led into the visiting area of the Rue de Santé prison.

He was dressed in an unassuming shapeless grey sweatshirt and department store slacks and affected a slight slouch. So far no one seemed to have recognized him. A circumstance he knew would come to an end but hoped would continue for as long as possible. 

Finally, his turn at the window came. He eased up and presented his identification card and waited for the graying barrel of a man on the other side of the bars and bulletproof glass to return it. Twiddling his fingers together just under the little counter that stuck out beyond the slot in the window to provide the resting place for the anxiously awaited log.

The guard peered at the picture at arm's length, glancing occasionally at his face then back to the card again. 

“Agreste, huh?” said the guard in a soft voice that seemed pitched to carry no further than Adrien's own ears. ”As in the designer?”  _ And terrorist,  _ hung in the air unspoken _. _ At Adrien’s jerky nod the guard pursed his lips off to one side and grunted, brows peaking in the middle of his forehead, then slid the ID and a pen back through the slot.    
“Hard row to hoe kid, hard row to hoe.” he said as he shook his head. “You, been here before?”

“Yessir,” Adrien responded quickly. He rattled off a brief paraphrase of the visiting time rules. “No electronics, anything that is to be given to the prisoners must be checked first, when time is up time is up and if I cause a ruckus I will be escorted out. Third time it’s permanent.”

The guard nodded back, “Looks like you know the drill. Good luck kid. I hope you enjoy your visit. Oh and Merry Christmas. “ The last was delivered with a smile.

“Thank you sir,” said Adrien as he signed his name and the check in time then received his ID and slipped it back into his wallet, “you have a merry Christmas too.”

Adrien turned and waited for the door to buzz then quickly opened it and sped through, pulling it shut behind him. He took a deep breath, then at the second harsh buzz proceeded through the inner door. Another guard waited just inside the door and after checking his name against their clip board directed him to one of the interview rooms.

He waited for a few moments stretched into eternity, until the door opened and Gabriel Agreste was led to sit opposite him. 

“Hello Father,” Adrien said evenly, despite the roiling pit of vipers that seemed to have replaced his stomach.

“Adrien,” came the snearing reply. “Still wearing that appalling second hand trash I see.“ Coming on three years in prison had not dulled the cold arrogance of Gabriel’s voice a single hair. 

From somewhere deep in his soul Chat Noir shot back. “I do it just for you.” 

“Well, if you came here just to flaunt your complete lack of discipline and abandonment of everything I taught you about style, you might as well leave now.”

Gabriel leaned back and propped his sharp chin on a disdainful hand.

“And here I was bringing you a Christmas present,” Adrien responded, Chat Noir’s insouciant manner pouring out of the model's more refined visage.

Gabriel frowned slightly and straightened in his chair.

"Mother is out of the casket."

That got his attention.

Adrien could see the questions pilling up in Gabriel's eyes trapped behind his narrowed lips.

Finally he sneered, “So much for Ladybug’s vaunted ‘care for everyone.’ Was she too busy to make a wish or did she make you grovel the whole time.”

Despite that he had expected this response Adrien still goggled at Gabriel's myopia and projection. 

"You know what Father. You spent two years buried in your secret lair, terrifying Paris, trying to get Ladybug and Chat Noir to give up their Miraculous. Mother sat in that high tech glass bottle the whole time like a bug in amber. It took Ladybug years with that book you had hidden in the safe behind mom's picture to figure out how to wake her up. She said something about her teacher losing his memory.” Adrien flashed a sharp toothed grin at the glowering face across from him. “But just two months to do what needed to be done to make it happen once she had the book deciphered." The whole team had burnt the midnight oil on multiple occasions working out the Guardians code and then trying to figure out the cryptic instructions.

“You could have had her back with you in a matter of months but _noooo_. The great Gabriel Agreste knows best.” He hissed the last word with extra venom for his own lost time. 

“If you weren't such an ass when I came to visit I might have come and told you in the spring when she actually got out.” Adrien smiled with all his teeth at Gabriel’s flinch. It was petty and he knew it and he knew if Marinette were here, or God help him, Sabine, he would be getting that look that both of them had when he had done something particularly “unbecoming”. 

But they weren't and he was going to take what little pleasure he could in the duty he had set himself.

The news of his mother’s recovery was all Adrien felt this self absorbed prick that had been married to Emilie Graham de Vanilly was due. He had probably seen the news of Adrien’s extravagant double wedding, when he and Marinette and Luka and Kagami had declared before the world what they had long since solemnized before their kwami, but Adrien was not going to bring that up if he didn’t.

It was no longer Gabriel's affair. Not until he decided that he could be bothered to ask. 

Nicely.

Which he didn’t.

They sat in stony silence for another five minutes before the guard knocked on the door.to let them know their time was up.

With that Adrien relented, a little. “Mother is not strong enough to visit yet but she said she will when the doctor says she is ready,” Adrien said with a sigh as he stood, and walked to the door where he paused. “Merry Christmas, Father.” He turned to look where the man who had ruled his first decades sat slumped forearms braced on the table as the guard restored his bonds. 

Then he left.

Adrien slipped a black watch cap over his head as he stepped out into the narrow canyon of the rue Messer, stuffing his hands into the pockets of the antique Russian military greatcoat he was wearing to hold off the chill of the late evening. He smiled to see Guillaume, his long time driver and bodyguard, already pulled up and leaning against the side of the black sedan they had driven out to the prison.

Adrien went over to the driver’s door and let himself in, silencing the politely importuning autopilot as the Gorilla squeezed into the passenger seat.

“Thank you for coming with me G,” he said softly as he started up the car and eased down the short street to turn onto boulevard Arago.

The Gorilla shrugged, managing to convey both that his being there was no big deal and that he would be there whenever Adrien needed him in one eloquently simple gesture.

The drive home was made in companionable silence, not even the sound of Christmas carols on the radio. 

A light snow was falling and it was growing dark, giving Adrien plenty to concentrate on, besides the previous strained conversation, for the short drive from the French maximum security and VIP lock up in the Montparnasse district back to the mansion. After a few minutes he cast his mind back over the last few Christmases. That first terrible one right after his mothers disappearance. When it seemed like nothing that might remind Gabriel of Emilie’s absence would be permitted to impinge on Gabriel’s environment. Not even his son. Nor was Adrien allowed to go out and enjoy the holiday on his own.

The corner of his mouth turned up at the memory of that first Christmas gift that Marinette had made specially for him, then grinned at the irony of the akumatized Santa Claus they had chased around Paris after Ladybug accosted the poor man for kidnapping him. In the end she had brought all his friends to fill the house with laughter for the first time in months. 

The second Christmas was better. He had been allowed out to attend parties and events with his friends. One night was spent jamming with Kitty Section, playing rock versions of what seemed like every Christmas carol in the world. He and Gabriel and Nathalie had even shared a bûche de Noël and opened presents on Christmas Eve. His smile turned sad at the memory of when he had still hoped that they might make a family again. 

That year was also the New Year’s eve ball Chloe had thrown at the Grand Paris. And the mid-night dance when he had realized just how much he really, really loved Marinette. 

They had still been too afraid to reveal themselves to each other. And, despite all of the hints Luka and Kagami (and Alix and Alya and Nino) had been tossing at his head, the fact that his miraculous Lady and his “Good Friend™” the budding designer were the same person still escaped him. He was never ever going to live that down not even if he saw as many Christmases as Master Fu.

The Christmas following Gabriel’s reveal as Hawk Moth and the discovery of his mother saw him moping in the mansion at the side of his mother’s capsule (not  _ casket _ ). Until Ladybug had descended to berate him for forgetting their promise to share  _ every  _ burden, then dragged him out to go for a run across the roofs of Paris with most of the rest of the team.

They had challenged each other to wilder and wilder jumps and tricks, Bunnyx and Roi Singe the last two to give up before he and Viperion and Ryuuko and Ladybug had fetched up in Kagami’s suite on the top level of the Tsurugi’s hidden mansion well after one in the morning. All according to his fiancés' plan by the bûche de Noël and Strawberry Christmas cake laid out in the sitting area. 

Ladybug had been blushing furiously during that whole run, a fact studiously ignored by everyone else. All of whom shushed him whenever he tried to bring it up. The reason for her nervousness was obvious when his lovers dropped their transformations to reveal they were attired only in strategically positioned silk ribbons. 

Marinette’s was pink, wrapped around her chest with a big bow in the middle. Kagami wore red, low and narrow on the hips with the bow positioned like a tail. Luka’s was blue, like Marinette's eyes, tied just back from the end of his “package”. 

To say Adrien was stunned was an understatement. It took him a full five minutes to stop laughing at Mari’s expression when Kagami cocked a hip and asked if he wanted to have cake or open presents first.

When his howls turned to sobs they held him till the tears ran dry. Then they demolished both cakes, fell into bed and slept. The simple comfort of their presence was a greater gift than anything he had received in many years. 

Now, it was his turn to host Christmas. 

The gate swung quietly aside as they pulled up to turn into the Mansion’s courtyard then parked in the garage that crouched under the dining room to the right of the stairs. They eased through the kitchen entrance into a scene of controlled chaos where Marinette and her mother were generaling the production of Christmas dinner. Nona Gina and Chloé of all people were busy running errands and stirring pots while Kagami had produced several piles of sliced and diced meat and vegetables. Tom was apparently still at the bakery handing out bûche de Noël with Grandpa Roland. 

As soon as they entered Guillaume was tapped to carry a bowl of apples, pears and oranges and a tray of christmas cookies up to the dining room while Adrien deposited hello kisses on all his ladies cheeks. 

“How was your visit dear?” Sabine inquired as she carefully opened a steamer basket and began plating a pile of  _ baozi. _

_ “ _ Better? Maybe?” He let out a long sigh. “I think maybe I started to get through to him, a little.”

“It’s not your responsibility to make him change Adrien, he must make that choice for himself,” she admonished him gently.

“I know  _ Māmā _ ,” he said, giving it the Mandarin pronunciation that always made her smile. “But I have to try, for Mother’s sake if not for his.” He wasn't sure if he was pleading with his mother-in-law or himself. "I'm supposed to honor my father  _ and  _ my mother after all.” The ghost of a wry smile touched his lips.

Sabine shook her head a couple of times, smiling at him with softly lidded eyes. She passed him the plate of pork buns and shooed him toward the dining room. “Go put those on the table and report to Emilie. And for heaven's sake put on something festive.”

A sudden slap she made behind her back caught the Gorilla’s hand as it was reaching for a stack of buns sitting beside the stove. “Those aren't cooked yet. Now either help or go find somewhere to be out of the way.” Adrien laughed as the hulking bodyguard ducked his head between his shoulders at the reprimand, then slunk over to the staging table to grab up the goose that Marinette was putting the finishing touches on.

They eased carefully through the door to the dining room and set their bounty among the rest of the dishes covering the groaning table. 

Adrien headed for the foyer while Guillaume trundled back toward the kitchen for the next round of delicacies.

In the foyer he stopped to take in all the decorations. The tall narrow trees covered in lights and ornaments. The garland and red ribbon on every banister. The start of a creche in the Provincial style. Although there were only a few of the traditional village folk beyond the Holy Family they had been sure to include a baker, a tailor, a musician and a soldier. Then he trudged up the stairs past his own room to the third floor where his mother lay in the suite that had belonged to her and Gabriel. 

He knocked lightly on the door and softly opened it just enough to peek through. The shift nurse smiled and waved him in. He carefully eased up to the bed to stand beside her looking down at the frail figure swallowed by the bed and whispered “how is she?”

“She is quite well.” Came his mother’s voice from the bed, thin, but strong. “And she is wondering what took you so long.” The hint of a laugh softened the rebuke.

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting Mother,” he said. “We had to stand in line for our turn, there were a lot of other people visiting family.” Though he doubted the other visitors on Christmas eve had met such a cold reception.

“You would think some consideration would be shown,” she grumbled under her breath. “How is my foolish husband doing?” The question was in equal parts fond and exasperated.

“Well enough,” Adrien answered. “He seems undaunted by his circumstances.”

“He always was stubborn,” she sighed, and turned her face away to the other side of the room.

“Nathalie says hello,” he proffered tentatively. 

“That's nice dear,” she responded without turning back. 

“Will you be coming down for Christmas dinner?” He hated how tentative his voice sounded in his own ears. 

“Maybe for a little bit. But I think I’ll need to rest a bit more first.” 

Adrien took that as a dismissal, and slunk from the room down to their bedroom to just breath for a moment 

Plagg phased out of his pocket as he peeled off the sweat shirt. “You can stop doing this you know.” The miniature cat god groused. 

“I know, and that's why I do it. I have been granted grace. At least once a year I can try to offer it on. There's nothing more he can do to me now and soon enough Mother can take up the burden if she wants.”

“I still think you should have stuck with cheese. Cheese will never betray you.” And with that he sped off to snag a wheel of camembert from the small fridge they kept for Kwami snacks and ducked into the chest that hid the miracle box.

Adrien dragged on the new Christmas sweater that had been left out for him on the bed and descended the stairs just in time to see Anarka, Juleka and Rose being ushered in by Luka. Adrien helped Luka collect coats and get them hung on the racks just inside the door while his mother and sisters headed in to greet the rest of the family. He turned from hanging Rose’s poofy pink down coat to be enveloped in wiry arms.

Adrien had become a bit of a connoisseur of hugs.

Marinette’s embrace was like a climbing rose. Strong on its own, but happy to let someone else take the weight, at least for a little while. Kagami always managed to make her hugs a challenge. Or a seduction. Tom and the Gorilla were equally strong, but Tom always made you want to count your ribs afterward and Guillaume acted like he was trying to hug spun glass.

Sabine was a warm blanket and his mother was a ghost. Nino’s hugs always made him feel included, as if his presence wherever Nino was was as natural as the air and as right as the sun rising in the east. 

Luka’s hugs were special. He held you like gravity held you in a feather bed on a cold winter's day. There was no wanting or needing in his embrace. You could leave whenever you chose.

You just didn't want to choose. 

Adrien leaned into Luka’s arms and just breathed and let Luka be his rock until he felt he could stand on his own again.

“Thanks,” he said as the last of the tension drained out of him.

“Hard talk?” 

“Yeah.” 

Gabriel treated love like it was rare and limited. As if once given it could never be got back again. When his world was broken, Gabriel struggled to take it back to some mythical perfect moment. Trading all the good things that were and could have been for a dream that never was. His circle of care had narrowed tighter and tighter until Adrien wasn't sure even his mother was still inside the line.

Over the last few months he had learned his mother was just as parsimonious, only more pleasant about it.

The new family Adrien had found and chosen poured out love by the bucket. Friends and partners and parents all reaching outside themselves to bear one another's burdens. The media, blind to the superhero side of their life, had made as much a scandal of their youth as the odd topology of the family he was building with Marinette and Kagami and Luka. But battle and loss had taught them that you couldn't wait for some magical day when you were “ready” and life was perfect. You had to reach for a connection when it was in front of you, and build space in your heart for other people before the sands of time and care filled all its chambers with dust.

Family wasn't ever easy, and they had chosen to take the hard route. Balancing six relationships between the four of them in circumstances that would have made the normal _one_ a challenge. 

But he knew the most important thing was that they had promised to love each other, especially when it was hard. To accept each other's worst days and give their best selves to each other every day. To not stop turning toward each other no matter what. 

To accept the risk of hurt and loss and tears that their days might be full of joy. 

Adrien stepped back from his brother's embrace and raised a fist for an answering bump.

Then they went in to join the rest of their family for dinner.

* * *

Two years later...

Adrien stood at the top of the stairs next to Marinette, surveying the foyer packed to bursting with their friends and family. Every year the party grew.

His gaze wandered over the room touching on where Tom was setting out his Ladybug shaped bûche de Noël with Grandpa Roland’s Arc de Triomphe. They could hear Anarka's voice raised in the atelier and the presence of Fang curled around the base of the large tree in the center of the foyer suggested it was Jagged Stone she was arguing with, rather than Commissioner Raincomprix. Chloé was holding court in another corner with Sabrina and her newest boyfriend. an Inspector Jacques Clouseau or Cousteau or something, that she had met on a case. This one had lasted six months already and seemed to be going strong. Adrien hoped she had finally found a partner who could keep up with her. 

All their fellow heroes were there, many with partners or other family. Kim and Ondine, Max and his mother, and Markov. Nora, and Otis. Noel with his and Nino’s Mother. 

He gave a quick nod to Luka, who was standing wrapped around Kagami nibbling on her ebony earrings, close to where Ivan and Mylene were showing off their little bundle to Nino and Alya. Luka nudged the massive drummer who looked up to catch Adrien's eye, then hollered, “Attention everybody, our host has something to say,” in a voice that shook the walls. 

Several people spilled out of the atelier and dining room including some of the senior fashion staff from Gabriel that had stayed with them as they reformed the company as Marinette/Adrien Designs. 

Mme. Tsurugi, the Gorilla and his wife, his mother and her nurse emerged at a more stately pace. Mother had made her Christmas visit to Gabriel days before and seemed mostly recovered. 

Sabine, Marlena, Marinette's Uncle Cheng and their helpers, Etta and Ella, emerged last as they made their way from the kitchen. 

Eventually, everyone was crowded into the great room and he looked out over the colorful mass of people blanketing the floor.

He and Marinette glanced at each other and he cleared his throat nervously. “Umm... we are really glad that everyone could make it this evening. Before we start dinner we would like to make an announcement.” With that he moved around behind his lovely lady to rest his head on her shoulder and wrap his arms with hers at her abdomen. 

Marinette hesitated a moment till he whispered his love in her ear. After a deep breath she spoke firmly. “We want to announce that Adrien and I are going to have a baby.”

As the roar of applause washed over them Adrien blinked back tears as the love that they had shared had come back to them thirty, sixty and one hundred fold. 

**Author's Note:**

> My great gratitude to my beta [theriveroflight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theriveroflight/pseuds/theriveroflight) and all the rest of the _Fabulous_ people at the [ Miraculous Fanworks Discord](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks), who have encouraged me and kept me going. If you write or draw for this fandom, or just want to, come play with us.


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